There But For the Grace of God

There But For the Grace of God was Originally Posted on April 12, 2005 by lavarock

There But For the Grace of God, Go I

Under different circumstances, you could be in the same sad shape as someone else.

I was just reading about 25,000 panicked residents being evacuated from the slopes of a volcano on Indonesia’s Sumatra island. The volcano has been rumbling.

According to Reuters, “Vulcanologists said they could not confirm whether lava had actually spewed out. But smoke had billowed up to 1,000 meters (3,280 ft) high from the volcano’s crater and ash had traveled up to 7.5 miles away”.

After the tsunami in December, now there is talk that the volcano *might* be ready to spew lava. The area has had natural disaster, political unrest and financial problems.

They also grow coffee.

The Pacific Ocean is a hotbed of volcanic activity and visitors should keep that in mind. Even Hawaii has volcanic activity. Actual lava flow has been pretty much continuous for the last 19 years. This means that pretty much any time you ventured to the southeast part of this island, you could see steam, glow and/or flowing liquid rock! Some times were better than ever and I can only speak of the four or five times I went to the volcano. I once stood not six feet from 2,000-degree lava and this was only a 15-minute walk from where I parked the car. Although exciting, I was relatively safe compared to being in the way of lava and having to flee.

Here is a link to current info on the flow. http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/kilauea/update/main.html

Tonight here is the entry

“0535 April 12
A single lonely stream of lava pouring into the ocean at Kamoamoa is all that the ocean entries have to offer this morning.”

Now let’s see, what they mean is “Sorry to report that there is only 1 stream of 2,000 molten rock and it will have to do!”

Now if lava was not the only drawback to living near a volcano, there is the VOG (volcanic smog) comprised of sulpher and hydrogen and other gasses I guess. When the wind blows this way, you can get a sore throat and sinus problems if you are prone to that.

Now I didn’t mean to turn this into a “What’s Wrong With Hawaii” rant, because remember, I CHOSE to live here and have no intention in moving. Not even after the earthquakes. Yes, earthquakes! What would a good lava flow be without an earthquake? Oh, the quakes are very small and many pass unnoticed. Perhaps Madam Pele is just letting off a bit of steam…

I had a talk with some residents here and we talked about when my area last saw volcanic activity. There was a lava flow right near here in 1877. More recent flows occurred in 1926 and even 1950.

They tell me that if a flow opens up, it may only be a mile or two wide on its way to the sea and that I should have a few hours to move…

I joke a bit about it but really, the though of a flow or strong earthquake or even a tsunami is a possibility; rather a PROBABILITY. It is just a matter of time here too.